A station for the young, by the young

A new pulse is about to hit Melbourne's airwaves. SYN-FM will be a community radio station with a difference - presenters and the entire management committee are under 26. Some of SYN's on-air hosts will be as young as 12.

SYN secured a permanent 24-hour programming licence from the Australian Broadcasting Authority in December, 2001, and after a 12-month organisational period, the station is ready to go to air on full-metro frequency 90.7.

"SYN is unique in that it will be presented by youth for youth. We treat our members as creators, and not just consumers of the media," says Craig Twitt, 23, station president.

SYN-FM was established in June, 2001, after a merger between SRA, a university-based station at RMIT, and 3DT, based at Thornbury Darebin Secondary College.

The station has set its target audience at the 12-26 age group with a commitment to local issues-based radio and music - 40 per cent of which must be Australian, and half of that must come from Melbourne.");document.write("

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The offices of SYN-FM at RMIT city campus can best be described as a state of ordered chaos: piles of CDs and old vinyl stacked in every available corner (there are even old CDs glued to the ceiling), a couple of computers, where the station's web presence is orchestrated,and a sink in the back corner stacked high with dirty dishes and chipped tea cups. Amid it all, a steady stream of fresh-faced and engaged young people go about organising the nuts and bolts of the station.

"When people think of the Melbourne community radio sector, we think of RRR, PBS and 3CR," says Jo Curtin, 23, SYN station manager. "They are all fantastic stations. I guess the way we slot in is that we're a younger demographic, we're expecting a younger all-round audience."

SYN will structure its programming around set-genre musical nights for each day of the week when it starts on January 28, with more than 98 separate shows, and the program reviewed every eight weeks. Key initiatives include programs presented by high school students dealing with VCE texts, ESL (English as a Second Language), religion, Koori issues and youth-at-risk issue chat shows.

The station will also offer advertisers the opportunity to tap directly into the youth market. The station has signed a six-month contract with the Transport Accident Commission to target young drivers.

Ms Curtin said: "There are lots of issues we have to be careful of - like we are not going to advertise alcohol on a program that's presented by people under 18."

Michelle Keomany, 17, a VCE student at MacRobertson Girls School, has high hopes of getting her own program on SYN. She wants to incorporate interviews with local bands and record labels, as well as including news, reviews and a gig guide. Michelle says her favourite Melbourne punk bands are H-Block 101, the Arch Rivals and Anti Skeptic.

"I'm applying for one of the genre nights - Thursday night - for a punk show," she says.

"None of the other stations seem as locally based or easy to access as SYN-FM," she said.

Ms Curtin says that SYN is all about giving young people the hands-on experience of media immersion.

"I don't know of any other way that young people - whether they are at university or high school, or not studying at all - can immerse themselves in the media in this way."